[5] In the early expansion plans of the city's Independent Subway System in the 1930s, the Rockaway Beach Branch was planned to be absorbed into the new subway, which would have turned the Woodhaven elevated station into a stop on the IND Queens Boulevard Line or a new Queens crosstown line.

The city purchased the entire line in 1955, but only the portion south of Liberty Avenue was reactivated for subway service.

[1][12][13] The underground station of the Atlantic Branch closed on January 7, 1977 due to vandalism and declining ridership.

Most lights at the station had been broken by thrown beer bottles and rocks, and the walls were covered with graffiti and were filthy.

The now-abandoned LIRR substation is present on the south side of Atlantic Avenue west of the elevated line.